The Luckin Scandal: How 'China's Starbucks' Crashed

The pandemic-related lockdown continues in much of the world but in China they are getting back to work. 

That gives us a chance to look into a major scandal from the business world that’s come to light in recent weeks at a company called Luckin Coffee, once billed as China’s answer to Starbucks.

The company, whose shares are listed in New York, shocked investors in April when it emerged it may have simply fabricated over $300 million of revenue last year.

It’s an extraordinary story, with big questions not just for Luckin’s management but also the banks and accounting firms that backed it.

This week, Andrew turns to Nana Li, research and project director for China at the Asian Corporate Governance Association and Jacky Wong (@jackycwong), a columnist at the Wall Street Journal, both in Hong Kong. We then speak to Catherine X. Pan-Giordano, who leads New York-based Dorsey & Whitney’s U.S.-China transactional practice.